General

• We conduct an interview to learn more about your situation, to be sure you understand what is involved in having a house rabbit, to answer your questions, etc. (This can be done via e-mail or US Mail. E-mail will move things along more rapidly than US Mail.) The purpose of the interview is to be sure you have considered everything we can think of that will affect the success of your adoption, and to educate you in any area that will help make your adoption successful and joy-filled.
• Assuming that both of us want to move forward after the interview, we then have you visit the foster rabbits.
• We give you educational materials, discussing certain aspects of rabbits you will need to know to be prepared for your rabbits.
• The rabbits will be delivered to your home.
• You will return after a few weeks for a four-hour "Bunny Tune-Up" class, where you will learn much more about keeping your rabbits healthy and giving them as long a life as possible.

• If you find a pair you want, we ask that you make a $40 deposit to hold them.
• We then ask you to get ready for delivery of the rabbits within a week.
• We deliver the rabbits when you are ready. At that time the contract is signed and final payment made.

Singles  (a partner for your rabbit)

Rabbits can be very picky about their partners, rejecting some suitors and accepting others. Their bonding rituals can be complex and people can interfere with the courtship by stopping some behaviors which look dangerous but aren’t. They can also fail to recognize other behaviors that can lead to serious fights and injuries.

Therefore, we do the pairings at our facilities. We show you the rabbits we believe would be appropriate partners and you choose three, indicating your first, second, and third preference. We begin with your first choice, going to your second and third choices only if the earlier choices don't work.

We keep the rabbits for several days to solidify the bonding, in order to minimize the territorial issues when the rabbits go home, and then we deliver them to you. This period can be as short as four days or as long as several weeks, but the average is about six days.

Typically, the time needed if your rabbit is a female is less than if your rabbit is a male. Males are likely to have more territorial issues when they get home than females. This is because, in nature, the female European Wild Rabbit (from which all of our domestic rabbits are descended) build a burrow, and goes out to find a male rabbit she likes, and then brings him home. His job is then to guard their territory. So a resident male has to work through the confusion of his instincts when a female he loves comes onto turf that he had already established ("I love her, but she shouldn't be on my turf"). This confusion usually passes within an hour or two of coming home, but only if the bonding is sufficient for his attraction to the female to overcome his sense that she shouldn't be on his turf.

Fees
Adoption fees are $75 for a pair of rabbits, $75 for a single, which includes the pairing. For this you get:

• rabbits already spayed and neutered
  
• rabbits delivered to assure their transition to their new home
  
• the "Rabbit Packet" (detailed information about caring for and training rabbits)
  
• three sessions of education:
  1. when you select your rabbits
  2. when the rabbits are delivered to you
  3. when you come back for the “Bunny Tune-Up” class
• a year’s membership to the chapter, including the newsletter
  
• phone line and e-mail to help solve any problems which come up throughout the lives of your rabbits
  
• a 24-hour emergency line if you need help with a sick or injured rabbit

Holidays
If you are planning to give your child or children a pair of rabbits on a holiday (e.g., Easter or Christmas), it is best to give them some of the supplies the rabbit will need on the holiday with a note saying that they will be going to help choose the rabbits. It is best for you to be able to judge how the rabbits and your children will interact before committing to a particular pair.

Homes and Supplies for Your Rabbits
We can provide nearly everything you need for your rabbits, including condos (cages), food and water crocks, hay, pellets, litter boxes, litter, toys, carriers, etc. However, you are welcome to shop elsewhere for these things. We do, however, encourage you not to shop at stores selling any kind of small animals. Such sales are the primary reason for those same animals ending up in shelters. When you support such stores, you are supporting the cruel practice of selling animals without any investigation of, or concern for, how they will fare in the future.

In an attempt to help you boycott such stores, we have established "pick-up points" throughout the metro area. People at these points will take orders from you and others in your area once or twice a month, fill the orders, and bring the supplies back to your area, so you don't have to make the trip all the way to Broomfield. These sales help support the Colorado House Rabbit Society.

We have large, cream-colored epoxy-painted, folding dog crates for sale as rabbit homes. They're expensive - $197 (including tax) as of January, 2008. But they are very nice for bunns and look nice in a family room.

You can also put "Neat Ideas" (sometimes called "Creative Cubes") cube panels together with nylon wire wraps and make an incredible condo in a matter of an hour or so for a fraction of the cost of a ready-made cage. See the following web page for photos and instructions:   http://members.aol.com/bunrabtoo/neatcubs.html